What??? That's not right at all! You're talking about the normal streetside recycling that picks up residential stuff? They're not at all equipped to handle lead, don't know what it is, and certainly won't dispose of it correctly! (Unless I'm misunderstanding you here.) That stuff's gonna end up in the landfill.
Lead in the environment IS a hazard, no matter what. That's why we no longer use leaded fuel.
I save lead scraps--solder bits, and even wheel weights that I pick up off the street--and eventually melt them down into "ingots" (basically big blobs cast in a small metal pan) that I bring to a local metal recycler who 1) disposes of it properly and 2) pays me for it.